Software version numbers would be good to share.
WIth regards to the process, both methods you indicate should work. At least until the robot changes names again.
The controller generates a md5 hash off a number of things on the server - robot name, IP, files in probe, etc. On startup of the controller, if this calculated value is different than what was originally calculated, it assumes something has been tampered with.
I'd suggest setting the log level on the controller to 5 and watching that to see where this expected-to-be-static data changes.